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"Rapper's Delight"
Rapper's Delight
Single by The Sugarhill Gang from the album Sugarhill Gang

Released

September 16, 1979

Format

12"

Recorded

Sugar Hill Studios, 1979

Genre

Hip hop, funk, disco

Length

  • 4:55 (single version)
  • 14:35 (album version)

Label

Sugar Hill

Writer(s)

  • Originally credited: H. Jackson, G. O'Brien, S. Robinson M. Wright
  • Later credited: B. Edwards, N. Rodgers
  • Uncredited: C. Brown, A. Hawk

Producer

Sylvia Robinson

The Sugarhill Gang singles chronology

Next

"8th Wonder" (1980)

"Rapper's Delight" is a song recorded by American hip hop trio The Sugarhill Gang in 1979. While it was not the first single to feature rapping, it is generally considered to be the first commercially released hip hop song and popularized hip hop in the United States and around the world. The song's opening lyric, "I said a hip hop, the hippie, the hippie to the hip-hip-hop and you don't stop" is world-renowned. The song is ranked #2 on About.com's, Rolling Stone's, and VH1's list of the greatest hip hop songs. The song was recorded in a single take. There are three versions of the original version of the song: 14:35 (12" long version), 6:30 (12" short version), and 4:55 (7" shortened single version). The song has sold over 2,500,000 copies worldwide. 

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